Joint Faculty Intranet

The Tragedie of Cleopatra – DVD now on sale

24 June 2013

A DVD is now on sale of Samuel Daniel's closet drama The Tragedie of Cleopatra, as presented
by the UCL Centre for Early Modern Exchanges at the Great Hall of
Goodenough College on Sunday 3rd March 2013.

This was the first performance of Daniel’s tragedy in at
least four hundred years. DVDs of this rare and sold-out production are now available
for research and teaching purposes and to anyone with an interest in Daniel and
his Cleopatra.

Daniel’s Cleopatra is significant
as the first original dramatisation in English of the Antony and Cleopatra
story, and as such, it forms an important part of our literary heritage.

It is unexpected for those who
come to it for the first time: this is not a play about the sweet, sultry
seductress that we have come to expect in representations of the Egyptian
Queen. Instead, Daniel’s tragedy focuses on the final hours of Cleopatra’s
life, showing a great queen struggling to negotiate some form of mercy for her
children, knowing that she has no option but to commit suicide or be led as a
trophy in Caesar’s triumph.

This project formed part of the 'Gained in Translation' season of
the UCL Grand Challenge of Intercultural Interaction. It was also
generously supported by:

The Malone Society

Oxford Journals: Music and
Letters

UCL European Institute

UCL Faculty of Arts and
Humanities, including FIGS (the Faculty Institute of Graduate Studies)

UCL English Department

UCLU Drama Society

To order a copy of the DVD,
please visit Eventbrite
and follow the instructions given there.